Where’s the beef?
Jun 02 2009
Often here on Fresh we bring you what we’re digging and what inspires us. We give ways to make what you create easier, ways to solve development issues creatively, and generally anything that we think you’d value. Sometimes we find problems that need to be solved that are staring us right in the face and we don’t even realize they exist.
After visiting An Event Apart this past month, I came face-to-face with one such situation. Have you ever wondered why sometimes when you create a website for a client, launch, then hand over the keys – things go haywire? All of a sudden the format is broken and the copy no longer makes sense, and all you’re left to do is shake your head and pray you took a screenshot before they took the reigns. Before you know it, the client is back at the drawing board wondering if they should’ve just changed that background color or moved things around on their home page a bit. Should we simply resign ourselves to blaming the client and moving on to the next project? I think not.
What’s the answer then? Kristina Halvorson (@halvorson on twitter) of Brain Traffic in Minneapolis, MN opened a room full of eyes to the elephant standing among us: Content Strategy. To paraphrase her, “Why is it that the one thing users come to your website for (good content) is almost the last thing to be dealt with?”. You know the situation: A grand concept is formed. The plans are drawn up, and creative minds start whirring. “What goes here?” is asked, to which the answer more times than not is “Lorem Ipsum, for now. They’ll give us the real deal later.” At the last minute, all is switched in production, and we scratch our heads and wonder – what happened?
Often times the creation of a site, in a client’s eyes, is about making the juiciest-looking hamburger around, one that customers cannot resist. The conversations in process are about what toppings are going onto this thing, a la sweet javascript functions, glossy buttons and calls-to-action in every nook and cranny. But; and I hesitate to push this metaphor and former Wendy’s slogan too far; where’s the beef? How do you know that what you’re offering your audience even has any value?
Just like a good design needs wireframes and rounds of testing, the content on your site deserves equal attention. Careful thought needs to be put into what message the audience needs to hear, and what the most effective way of getting that across might be. Letting a client’s marketing department determine the web content strategy can lead to a very unbalanced solution, one that doesn’t take the customers perspective into account.
Let’s also get one thing straight: Content Strategy is not copywriting. It is one product or facet of a good strategy. A full-on strategy takes everything from Information Architecture to User Experience into account, as well as those clever copy hooks. The development of the content should happen in sync with the design, and they will inform each other along the way. The end product of such a strategy will be an effective site that is a joy to use, and will be visited often because of the value of what it gives to the audience.
image by Warren Parsons
So what does this mean to all of us? Is it reasonable to think we should all go out and hire a Content Strategist? Probably not. With shrinking budgets and less work, bringing on new help might seem counter-intuitive. However, keep in mind that with companies being more careful about where their money is spent and wanting to get the most bang for their buck, all attempts should be made to make sure that those projects that are done are the most effective they can be, not purely the most efficient. I think the most important thing to take away is a cognizance of when a project is in real need of someone to create a content strategy and have that discussion upfront with the client. If it becomes a recognizable obstacle, it can be planned for and dealt with.
Don’t leave the content to chance. It’s not the client’s fault. It’s our job to show the value in making effective content, and why it’s a win for everyone. To get the full scoop on what content strategy is all about, visit Brain Traffic’s website and blog, and look for an opportunity to see Kristina at a speaking appearance. I swear, its worth it.
Posted by Andy at 10:29 AM
Published in Inspiration, Process, Tips & Tricks, eROI on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Tags: aea, aea09, brain traffic, content strategy, halvorson
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 am
[...] is the original post: Where’s the beef? Posted under [...]
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Very good post!
Writing even a simple paragraph of worth while content for web sites can be a work of art.
Creating a content strategy is even harder of course.
As Google once said – ‘content is king’!
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Excellent article.
With recent clients, I’ve stretched the importance of Information Architecture — planning the bits and pieces, putting all the widgets on the table and then figuring out their relationships. They mostly nod and accept and then wait for me to do it.
In the meanwhile, I’ve also told them, “Hey, users come to your site for your content, not your logo. So lets make sure its easy to get to and says the right things. Come up with a few value propositions and the rest of the copy.”
Then they go off and twiddle and come back to me with some nice words to use.
Now, I can design. Great.
Then when it finally comes time to developing, I have to ask a litany of questions: “How many of these will there be?”, “How do you want to change this every time you need to?” “What’s going to get updated frequently and what’s not?”
More often than not, I have to now tweak some crucial design element, spend more time configuring a CMS than I want to, and more and more little pieces of me fall off the chair and die forever.
For a while, web developers have been preaching the “IA/wireframing uber alles” mantra. Clearly, this notion of content strategy needs to go up there. And the idea of delivering the design might need to be the next-to-last deliverable of the whole project (the last deliverable being, of course, the design revisions).
Maybe a “new design” is the last thing a client needs.
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
thanks for the perspective offered in this post – it’s easy to forget!
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
[...] team over at We Like It Fresh wrote an interesting post called Where’s The Beef. It talks about the often overlooked importance of a Web sites content. For example, when an [...]
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:17 pm
[...] Where’s the beef? | Freshwelikeitfresh.com [...]
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Hey, you guys – Zeldman pointed this out to me – what a great post. Flattered, and grateful. Obviously I think this stuff is pretty damn important. Glad you do, too.
Thanks for your good words!
June 2nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
So true. I’ve yet to see an effective website launched where content was an after thought.
Thanks for the refreshing reminder. I’ve had to tell clients that it’s not your design, it’s your message. After which they simply add to the copy, thinking more is better.
What I’d like to know is some proven techniques and case studies available to express the true importance of a real content strategy.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
[...] Where’s the beef? | Fresh – [...]
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 am
Great points Andy!
We need to collaborate on how we can make content a higher priority internally and with our clients.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:39 am
Well done, Kristina is always great to see. The point that I always make about Content Strategy is that you can’t not do it. Someone somewhere is making all the decisions about content that need to be made so that you have something at then end. The question is whether you are doing Content Strategy intentionally in an organized, planned, and documented manner, or are people just making random, disconnected, often conflicting decisions.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:38 am
[...] Where’s the Beef? [...]
August 7th, 2009 at 11:03 am
[...] Jun.02, 2009 in Uncategorized The team over at We Like It Fresh wrote an interesting post called Where’s The Beef. It talks about the often overlooked importance of a Web sites content. For example, when an [...]